Linggo, Oktubre 22, 2017

When the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in January 30 to March 6
this year took over the War on Drugs, narcotics proliferate again in the market
thus the members of the Philippine National Police were called back to continue
the fight against the peddlers. In October 10 this year President Rodrigo
Duterte issued a memorandum circular pulling out again the superior in
number cops and hailing the small in number PDEA’s agents.

President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo Credit: RMN

Evidently,
the decision of the president was anchored on the Social Weather Station polls
that showed his popularity rates cascaded to 18 percent after some policemen
were charged executing innocent individuals like Kian delos Santos and
Carl Arnaiz and other adverse issues that haunted his administration as played
to the helm by the acrimonious Philippines media?

Was
Duterte impulsive to drag out the PNP despite survey outfit Pulse Asia poll
bannered “88% of Pinoys support war on drugs; 73% say EJKs happen—survey” by
Philippine Daily Inquirer 's issue last October 16?

Would the
war on narcs weakened as the PDEA has only 2000 personnel nationwide while the
police have 175,000 men literally implementing the “long arm of the law”?

Here was
my comment at Face Book after Pulse Asia showed its polls taken almost on the
same dates with that of its rival SWS:

Anong
nangyari?

SWS
Duterte’s 48% popularity versus Pulse’s 73%.

SWS 23-27,
2017 polls showed President Duterte got 67% (Satisfied) 14% (Undecided), 19%
(Di -satisfied) or 67 minus 19 equals 48% net Satisfaction rating. Pulse Asia’s
80% (Satisfied) 13% (Undecided), 7% (Dissatisfied) or 80% minus 7% equals 73%
net Satisfaction rating. 48 % and 73% ran smack on that days issues, as stated
by SWS, issues like the Senate probe into the shipment of P6.4 billion worth of
shabu from China, in which the President’s son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo
Duterte, and his son-in-law, Manases Carpio, appeared. Both denied allegations
they were involved in smuggling.
Another was the “revelation” of Duterte that Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th had a
secret bank account in Singapore, which the senator disproved. The President
later admitted that he just “invented” the bank account numbers that he had
announced in public supposedly to “bait” his critic.
The killings of teens Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz, and Reynaldo de Guzman
also dominated the headlines in August and early September, fanning public
outrage and criticism of Duterte’s war on drugs, and others.

I recently rubbed elbows at the meeting of the Vice Mayors League of
the Philippines –Pangasinan Chapter new Urdaneta City Vice Mayor Julio F.
Parayno III and new Pozorrubio Vice Mayor Ernesto Salcedo.

The gathering was held at Jeck’s in Dagupan City.

I said the duo were “new” since Parayno became the second most powerful
man in the Cattle City when he assumed office in June 30, 2016 while Salcedo,
the highest vote getter alderman, was catapulted to the vice mayoralty after
the town mayor Artemio Chan was sacked by the Ombudsman and replaced by Vice
Mayor Ernesto Go, a perennial rival, for the mayorship.

Parayno answered my query if he will run for the top post of Urdaneta
City after mayor Amadeo "Bobom" G.E. Perez IV bowed out as his third
term expired in the 2019 election.

Parayno, a young law graduate of Saint Louis University in Baguio
City, told me that in the next election it would be a tandem of Perezes versus
the pair of Paraynos clashing in the burgeoning city.

“Paano maging Paraynos versus Perezes?” I posed in the
vernacular.

He said the probable bets would be former Ambassador Amadito Perez, Jr.
and daughter Councilor Tet Perez- Naguiat (wife of former PAGCOR Chair Cristino
Naguiat) and him and his nephew Jimmy D. Parayno the present councilor of the
city.

Parayno told me that his deceased father former Vice Mayor Julio
Parayno, a man of the masses, should be the mayor of the 132, 940 populated
(2015 census) city but gave way to kin Dr. Rodoldfo E. Parayno. He cited the
latter ran for the mayorship and won as the quintessential politico Amadito
Perez ended his third term and became the congressman of the 5th District.

Parayno told me he can also seek reelection while Fifth District
Congressman Amado T. Espino chooses to run versus the "ole man"
Perez, his bête noire, for the mayoralty seat.

Parayno said to us media men that it is the dream of the solon, who
told him, to be a mayor of the 34 villages city.

Espino and Amadito Perez had a legal rift being heard by the court
after then Governor Espino sued with libel the octogenarian (or was it
nonagenarian?) Perez after he defamed Espino at the meeting de avance of
gubernatorial candidate Mark Cojuangco at Lingayen Plaza in 2016 Election.

Cojuangco was defeated heavily by the son and name sake of Espino on
that election.

In case Espino runs for mayor, political pundits see the District would
be seeing outgoing Urdaneta Mayor Bobom Perez clashing with outgoing Binalonan
Mayor Ramon “Mon-mon” Guico III for the eight town and a city’s Congressional
District.

“Nobody is
more viable to run in the district with these two names,” Edwin Bautista, a media practitioner, said.

***

Edwin, my student in political science at Lyceum Northwestern
University, is the pet peeve of Pozurrobio Vice Mayor Salcedo who told us that
he could not forget Edwin suing him at the court because he accused the then
No.1 Councilor for rampant vote buying in the 2016 election. Edwin was No. 9 or
a hundred of votes shy to the No. 8 Councilor.

“A vacancy in No. 1 post means I’ll be the No.8 dad in the town that
could put a stop on my series of failed streaks in the post,” Edwin
told then his best friend broadcaster Harold Barcelona about his plan,
strategy, and chutzpah.

But Murphy’s Law had its way, son of a gun, Salcedo became Vice Mayor
after the Ombudsman fired Mayor Chan for allowing somebody to solemnize
marriage and pulled up by operation of law Vice Mayor Go and Salcedo to the top
two posts of the local government unit.

Now Edwin’s fellow media man and fellow perennial losing candidate for
the councilor's post Blas Ople’s factotum and Marcos Era Journalist and book
author Mel Jovellanos was recommended by the new vice mayor, an independent
bet, to be the No. 8 dad.

“How can
Mel be the No. 8 when he was a tail ender and I got thousands of votes in that
election than him?” Edwin, as
Harold narrated, wildly, er, emphatically posed to friends.

“He who caused the vacancy recommend through his party or the
Sanggunian if he is independent,” I quipped to Publisher Ronel de Vera, a law
graduate, the legal dictum in the Local Government Code of 1991 I taught to the
classmates of Edwin while he was taking a pee in the comfort room away from my
lecture on that topic while Salcedo gave us media men, Manaoag Vice Mayor Domie
Ching, and Vice Mayor Parayno a smirk of a smile of “Sweet Revenge” to Edwin
where the former could not forget telling the Municipal Trial Court’s judge
that Salcedo flooded the villages with “sets of palanggana or plastic basin.

Susmariosep, this how luck and fate ensued in local politics a politics
where my favorite House Speaker, not the rabble rousing Joe de Venecia nor the
arrogant Pantaleon Alvarez, but the non-pareil Tip “All Politics
is Local” O’Neil (Democrats) whose anecdotes loaded book "Man
of the House with William Novak" gave me a view point how
politics could make or unmake a person.